That Other Story
by In-betweens
Summary: movie version “What’s the one thing mom hates more then anything.” Caroline asked. “Mom hates incompetence.” Caroline stated. “It’s perfect plan to get her!” Sequel to Lessons


**Title**: That Other Story  
**Author**: Megs  
**Plot**: "What's the one thing mom hates more then anything." Caroline asked. "Mom hates incompetence." Caroline stated. "It's perfect plan to get her!" Sequel to Lessons  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters. I do own the literature surrounding the situation they've just landed themselves in thanks to my unusual imagination.  
**Author's Note**: So it took a lot longer then I planned to get this sequel up. Life just didn't leave time. Hope you'll enjoy the ride. Let me know how I did.  
**2nd Author's Note:** It is very necessary to read Lessons before you continue to read the sequel. Trust me...if you don't you'll be very confused about the motives behind out little trouble makers.

**Part 1/?**

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

Cassidy paced back and forth, all of her fingernails chewed down to the brim. Great. Miranda was going to love that. Her now damaged nails were just another reason for her mother to start whispering...shudder. Just the thought of her mother's whisper made her shiver. It was more feared then her actually yelling. Which, she'd only done on five occasions to date. One of which was today. Why had she let Caroline talk her into this? How had she been dragged into this 'fool proof' plan?

Oh, that's right, because it was supposed to be **fool proof**. Showed how much they knew! Cassidy looked over the banister down to the first floor landing and cringed as she watched her mother wave her hands, gesturing like crazy at Andy. Poor Andy. She hadn't even done much and she was getting the brunt of it. Then again the night wasn't over. There was a lot that could happen between now and then. Cassidy met Andy's eyes and she felt her heart constrict when she saw tears in Andy's amber eyes.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

With a growing feeling of dread Cassidy stepped away from the banister, casting Andy sympathetic looks. Something had to be done! She slammed her palm into the wooden banister. Damn it! Andy didn't deserve this! She'd done nothing wrong! Where the hell was Caroline? They had to fix this! Now!

"For starters you're fired!" Before something like that happened. Damn it!

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

She needed to do something before something worse happened.

"Ha...I haven't worked for you in years!!" Like that. Was Andy stupid? You never fight back! You _**never**_, under _any_ circumstances, _**fight back**_ mother's fury with more fury. It was just not done! This was unbelievable!

Where the hell was Caroline!?

"Hey, mom!" Caroline greeted as she walked into the living room.

Miranda's head slowly lifted up from her focus on her laptop and smiled when she saw Caroline happily walking into the room. Caroline slipped the pillow her mother had been using for her feet and put it on her lap as she sat down.

"Hello darling." It seemed by Caroline's gesture to place her feet on the pillow, she had nowhere else to be and would be staying for a while. This meant she was bored, tired or wanted something. "What can I do for you?"

"I was just hoping I could stay in here while you work." Caroline stated with a droopy smile.

Miranda lifted one perfectly sculpted eyebrow and waited.

Caroline flinched under the scrutiny; usually she was able to easily control her facial features while being inspected by her mother. Tonight was different. Tonight she was tired and bored and had everything she needed, almost. Caroline smiled at just the thought of what she and Cassidy had accomplished only two hours previous. It had been just as simple as she had told Cassidy it would be.

Well...almost.

* * *

It had been eight o'clock. That meant Miranda was in the living room, or the study, working on her laptop, or if the Book had arrived, working on that instead. They had checked the study and their mother's purse and had realized quickly that her cell phone was in neither place. Which meant that Miranda had it with her. So, it wasn't as simple as they had hoped it would be. But that just meant that they were pulling Patricia into the mix. They'd sent Patricia in first, to test the waters. When Patricia wasn't sent out of the room, and was even granted a smile and a few strokes to her fur they knew they were in! With their infiltration strategy already perfected, they began their act. It was easy; after all pretending to be having an argument wasn't that hard.

The initial shock of the two of them arguing and calling each other names had caught Miranda off guard. It was a rare sight indeed to see her daughters actually becoming physical with each other. They fought all the time, which Miranda had been assured was normal, but they had never actually become physical! With her initial shock wearing off the closer the girls came and further they went into the room, Miranda placed the book on the handcrafted Italian mulberry wood coffee table only to push it, along with the coffee table to the left when Caroline came falling towards the edge. Cassidy had been surprised how far Caroline had fallen. She hadn't even pushed her that hard.

It was Patricia's fault! Caroline had been initially shocked by the shove and hadn't had time to right herself before she tripped over Patricia, who was standing in front of the coffee table, barking at their confrontation.

Damn it, the plan was to scoop and grab, not scoop grab, and get grounded for the rest of their lives for destroying the five thousand dollar coffee table! Cassidy held her breath until she watched as her mother pushed the coffee table to the right, scrounging up the Persian rug only to turn just in time to catch Caroline before they both fell to the floor. Cassidy cringed as she watched the scene and only opened her eyes when she heard her mother speaking to Caroline.

Now!

With a quick glance Cassidy saw that the cell phone had fallen off the table when Miranda pushed it out of the way in order to save it, she was sure. She rushed down to kneel beside her mother and Caroline, her pocket now holding the cell phone while Caroline's sat in its place on the rug, before her mother could even glance at her.

"What…" Miranda began, her hand running through Caroline's hair. "In the world were the two of you fighting over?" Miranda had asked her voice harsh, and out of breath as she held Caroline against her chest her eyes trained on Cassidy.

"Mom it was an accident." Caroline tried, knowing full well this wasn't going to end well for Cassidy, more then herself.

"I do not care if it was choreographed." Her eyes looking down at Caroline's before she turned to Cassidy. "What were you thinking? Pushing your sister like that? You know better then to use physical means to get your point across!" Miranda scolded, her heart racing against her chest as she prevented Caroline from moving, needing the clarification that she was all right for just a moment longer. Sometimes she wondered how she'd ever make it to her next birthday with two pre-teen twin girls.

--

Cassidy had her TV, computer and Internet privileges taken away for four days, for their first part of the plan. She had her computer and video games taken away. So…it hadn't gone as well as it could have. Cassidy still wasn't talking to her. It wasn't her fault things hadn't gone exactly as they planned. But they had the phone information, only problem was they had to wait longer then they wanted to access them since they both weren't allowed to use the computer. Unless it was for homework, sigh. They had been able to copy the information from their mother's phone easy enough. It had only taken ten minutes, and the Editor hadn't come upstairs to make sure they were following her orders. She knew they would.

They knew they would, because not following them and getting caught was a scary enough thought to make them follow them. This was the first time they'd risked it by downloading the information since the first and only time they hadn't followed their punishment. After they'd copied the information they brought the cell back without any trouble. It was easier to give the phone back then take it, the opposite of what they had previously thought. Since now they had a legitimate excuse to come into the room. Plead for forgiveness and a lesser sentence.

It'd worked.

Their initial punishment was for seven days, now they were down to four. Whoever said Miranda Priestly didn't negotiate hadn't ever lived with her. Caroline had to wait to access it since Cassidy couldn't use the computer unless it was for homework.

Phase one complete.

Now, Caroline was bored. She hadn't realized how much she depended on Cassidy's company and conversations until she didn't have it anymore. Go figure. No wonder mom always thought she wanted something when she showed up. She usually only came when she wanted something. That was, kinda sad to realize. Really sad actually.

"Do you think, when you're not mad at me or Cassidy…"

"I'm not mad at you or your sister, Caroline." Miranda stated, her gaze lightening as she relaxed.

Caroline ignored her mother's statement and continued on anyway. "Do you think the three of us could, you know…"

"Caroline you've been taught better edict then this. What is it you want?" It wasn't a harsh statement but to Caroline's already sensitive ears and flabby nerves it was all she needed to stop speaking completely.

"…never mind. You would just say no anyway." Caroline moved her mother's legs off of her and stood to leave the room.

"Caroline Amelia Priestly…" the use of the full name was never a good sign. "There is no need to feel nervous about asking me something." Miranda stated as she sat up straight, her feet moving to touch the rug. "What is it?"

Caroline shook her head and crossed her arms. "Why do you make it so hard to talk to you?"

That was unexpected. "Excuse me?"

"Why do you make it hard for people to talk to you?"

The question was being repeated for the second time and somehow she couldn't wrap her mind around it, no matter how simple it seemed. "I do no such thing."

Who was she trying to kid? "Yes you do. If your daughter can't even talk to you about wanting to go to the movies together, as a family, how can anyone talk to you about anything?"

"Caroline…"

"No. Cassidy and I can never just talk to you. You want to know what I was thinking when I was sitting here?"

"…" It didn't look like she had a choice.

"I thought about how sad it was that I can never just talk to you, to talk to you because I just want to hear your voice or your opinion. All my friends say how much they hate their mothers, in school. But…I can't even hate you because you've always been like this."

Hate? She wanted to hate her? "Caroline what you are saying is…"

"The truth! What I'm saying is the truth. When was the last time the three of us sat together for dinner and actually had an enjoyable conversation?" The two remained silent for several moments. Caroline waited while Miranda tried in earnest to remember when dinner with the girls hadn't been awkward. All she could come up with was four years ago, when the girls were too young to truly have an educated conversation and all they wanted to talk about was the latest boy band. "You weren't happy with Stephen. We were sad to see him go only because we could talk to him, but we were also happy to see him go because he made you miserable."

How did Stephen become a part of this? "What does Stephen have to do with what you are trying to say?" Why could she not keep up with conversation?!

"Nothing…" a beat later. "…everything. When Stephen was around there was sound." Sound? "It was always fighting, and him yelling, and the two of you arguing, and then the doors slamming but there was sound. Since then it's been nothing but a deafening silence! We don't talk, mom. We've never really talked and I hate it." Caroline stamped her foot, aware only after the fact how immature that made her look. How could it be helped? She was twelve years old and she couldn't even find it in herself to talk to her mother about the weather, let alone anything important. All of this, her frustration, the growing pit in her stomach. It reminded her of why she was doing what she was doing. Why she was trying. Why she was making her point. She needed her mother to see her own incompetence so she could finally fix her inadequacy at work, if there were ever truly any, and then perhaps her home life. Which is why she was doing it wasn't it? To show her mother that she wasn't perfect. That she had flaws that needed to be noticed and attempted to ease away.

Why was she crying? Damn, when did she start to cry?

"Caroline…" Miranda sighed as she stepped towards her dissolving child. What she was saying wasn't true. It couldn't be. She'd made sure to leave herself open for the girls, so they could talk. She always made it a point to talk to them about their day. She always wanted to know about their lessons and their schoolwork and friends and plans. Usually their plans were forestalled due to her own, or their fathers, but she was always interested.

"Just leave me alone like you always do." Caroline stated as she turned on her heels and ran to the stairs, already up the first flight before Miranda could even call out her name.

When Caroline ran into her room she threw the door closed, only flinching for a moment after the sound echoed through her room. With defiance she hadn't known existed within herself she locked the door, the one rule within the house that was never to be broken. She took a step back and looked at the door as if seeing it for the first time. She waited, and waited. After what felt like an hour but was only minutes Caroline turned from the door, safe in the assumption that her mother wouldn't be following her.

Ha. When did Miranda Priestly follow anyone? Miranda Priestly was a leader not a follower. No matter what the situation.

With the edge returning with an avenging fury Caroline stalked across her bedroom. Her hands ringing her fingers before forming tight knit fists. Her moans and groans only escalated the longer she paced. Her thoughts of doubt and simmers of regret forming in her stomach angered her further. Of course doing this prank was going to cause problems. It was those problems that would ensure that her mother paid attention. Turned to her children, in what Caroline knew would be a fury, and actually talked to them. At least when she was scolding them, she was talking to them and paying attention.

_Attention whores_. That's what Beth, an old assistant, had called them. She hadn't lasted long, but her comments still rung true. Except Cassidy shouldn't be included in that description. That Cassidy didn't care wasn't true. Cassidy cared; she just didn't let it bother her as much as Caroline let it bother her. Caroline wanted a connection with her mother, other then a name, a face and mannerisms. Caroline wanted a relationship with her mother, one that was more profound than the one that they shared now.

Caroline didn't want to hurt her mother. That was never the real plan. What she wanted was for her mother to pay attention. To realize that things weren't right. Realize that not everything in her world was as perfect as she thought it was. Maybe if the imperfection, her own imperfection, appeared at work, then she'd apply the same measures she did to fix those imperfections with the ones she had at home. Then, maybe they'd be able to talk and form the relationship Caroline craved. Then, who would need pranks and practical jokes?

* * *

Cassidy pulled out her cell phone and continued to pace the length of the deserted hallway. Along the walls, pictures and portraits of her family hung each changing as much as the next as the years passed. If anyone was looking for a quick trip down memory lane for the Priestly family, all they must do was walk down this one hallway to get a glimpse into their pasts. A past that would mean nothing if Cassidy couldn't get a hold of Caroline so they could fix this before it became as bad as Cassidy imagined it was.

Cassidy wished she could release her pent up frustration, and unfortunately for Caroline she let it lose in the form of dark, unspeakable words left in the form of a message informing her sister that if she didn't make it home within the next ten minutes dark unthinkable things would be done to everything Caroline valued and she could get her hands on. Oh, and of course she ended the message as she ended any conversation with her sister. With a declaration of love, this time with an added bonus wrapping up her previous triad.

"Love you." It was spoken in such contrast from the rest of the message. "Now get your ass home!" Ah…there was the feisty dark seeded tone again. Cassidy knew it would work and her sister's unexpected intrusion into the house would break up the continuing argument that seemed never ending, downstairs.

TBC…


End file.
